Introduction

Maltcégj is an a priori, agglutinative, semi-analytic head-initial language created by BenJamin P. Johnson in 2001. It has a strict VSO sentence structure that is modified with large numbers of verbal and nominal particles.

Alphabet and Pronunciation

a

b

c

d

ð

e

f

g

ǧ

h

i

/ɑ/

/b/

/ʃ/

/d/

/ð/

/ɛ/

/f/

/g/

/γ/

/h/

/i/

j

k

l

ɮ

ʌ

m

n

o

ǫ

p

r

/ʒ/

/k/

/l/

/ɮ/

/ɫ̩/

/m/

/n/

/o/

/ɔ/

/p/

/ɾ/

ʀ

s

t

þ

u

v

w

x

y

ẏ

z

/ɹ̩/

/s/

/t/

/θ/

/u/

/v/

/w/

/x/

/ɪ/

/j/

/z/

Orthography

Primary stress is indicated in words of more than one syllable with an acute accent over the primary vowel. In diphthongs, the accent is placed on the first vowel.

Where two vowels appear together but are not a diphthong, the second vowel is marked with a diæresis if it is a front vowel, or with a single dot if a back vowel (i.e. ï, ÿ, ë, ȧ, ǫ̇, ȯ, u̇), e.g. oï.

Even if this would not result in a standard diphthong, this convention is still followed any time there are two disyllabic pertingent vowels, e.g. kúluï ‘all’, itáliȧ ‘Italy’.

If the second vowel is stressed, however, the first vowel is marked instead, e.g. italiáno → italïáno ‘Italian’.

(NB: This stylistic rule is followed rather loosely, and often only applies to the letters <ë> and <ï>.)

No capital letters are used.

Native Writing System

Maltcégj is also written using a featural alphabet which treats the vowels as diacritics, and also uses diacritics to describe manner of articulation and consonant clusters. In all there are only seven “letters”; all other phonetic functions are filled by diacritics or modifications of these seven characters. (Actually, there are really only four: the labial, dental, palatal, and glottal forms are just directional variations of the same character, and the rhotic is just a turned lambdic.)

The default characters are the voiced continuants. (NB: The default form is used by /h/ because there is no unvoiced equivalent.)

Labial

Dental

Alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

Description

ContinuantVoiced

v /v/

ð /ð/

z /z/

j /ʒ/

ǧ /γ/

These are the default forms of all the obstruents.

ConinuantUnvoiced

f /f/

þ /θ/

s /s/

c /ʃ/

x /x/

h /h/

For devoicing, an extra stroke is added to the body of the character. (There is not an extra stroke in <h>, because since there is no voiced equivalent, it is simpler to leave it in default form.)

Labial

Alveolar

Velar

Stops

b /b/

p /p/

d /d/

t /t/

g /g/

k /k/

Stops are indicated by a diacritic:

Nasal

m /m/

n /n/

A different diacritic is used for nasals:

Lambdic

Rhotic

Liquids

l /l/

ʌ /ɫ̩/

diacritic l

r /ɾ/

ʀ /ɹ̩/

diacritic r

<r> and <l> only appear in default form when they stand on their own; whenever either appears as a part of a consonant cluster, they are written as a diacritic.

[More coming soon...]

Phonology

Consonants

Stops

Unvoiced

Voiced

p

/p/

as in putpul [pʰul] ‘he’

b

/b/

as in batbadj [bʰaʤ] ‘to have’

t

/t/

as in toptalp [tʰɑlp] ‘head’

d

/d/

as in dogdið [dʰið] ‘beautiful’

k

/k/

as in keepkat [kʰɑt] ‘dry’

g

/g/

as in getgelk [gʰɛlk] ‘to give’

Initial stops have a tendency to be aspirated.

Affricates

Unvoiced

Voiced

pf

/p͡f /

as in German Pferdpfatɮ [p͡fɑt͡ɬ] ‘spit’

bv

/b͡v /

as in obvious bvrac [bvɾɑʃ] ‘sparrow’

ts

/ʦ/

as in getsfrants [fɾɑnʦ] ‘France’

dz

/ʣ/

as in adzexandz [xɑnʣ] ‘Chinese character’

tc

/ʧ/

as in churchtcitsíc [ʧi’ʦiʃ] ‘to sneeze’

dj

/ʤ/

as in judgedjáska [‘ʤɑskɑ] ‘cinnamon’

tɮ

/ƛ (t͡ɬ)/

as <ll> in Icelandic allatxatɮ [txɑt͡ɬ] ‘slap’

dɮ

/λ (d͡ɮ)/

as in Xhosa indlovuódɮo [‘o.d͡ɮo] ‘mouth’

There are eight “pure” affricates in Maltcégj, though none are represented by their own unique character. For more information, see Consonant Clusters, below.

Fricatives

Unvoiced

Voiced

f

/f/

as in footfaurx [fau̯ɾx] ‘heat’

v

/v/

as in veryvíktro [‘vik.tɾo] ‘tree’

þ

/θ/

as <th> in thingþad [θɑd] ‘man’

ð

/ð/

as <th> in thenðak [ðɑk] ‘to say’

s

/s/

as in singsalméilo [sɑl’mɛi̯.lo] ‘apple’

z

/z/

as in zoozendj [zɛnʤ] ‘paint’

c

/ʃ/

as <sh> in shoecul [ʃul] ‘prophesy’

j

/ʒ/

as in French jamaisjadíȯ [ʒɑ’di.o] ‘sun’

x

/x/

as <ch> in German Bachxac [xɑʃ] ‘difficult’

ǧ

/γ/

as <g> in Spanish amigoǧénba [‘γɛn.bɑ] ‘apricot’

h

/h/

as in hellohanák [hɑ’nɑk] ‘person, human’

Nasals

m

/m/

as in manmárga [‘mɑɾ.ga] ‘house’

n

/n/

as in nosenyj [nɪʒ] ‘grain’

NB: There is no realization of as nasal as /ŋ/, even before a velar obstruent. In many cases, an epenthetic <e> may intervene between <n> and a velar (e.g. hánek ‘grandfather’, from Hank), but even when it does not, the letters are pronounced independently (e.g. gýnko /'gɪn.ko/ ‘ginko’, not **/'gɪŋ.ko/).

** While technically liquids, <ʌ> and <ʀ> never occur non-syllabically, and are better treated as vowels.

Glides

w

/w/

as in woodwʌf [wɫ̩f] ‘bone’

ẏ

/j/

as <y> in youẏála [‘jɑ.lɑ] ‘bird’

Vowels

Front

Back

i

/i/

as <ee> in beetílǫx [‘i.lɔx] ‘knee’

u

/u/

as <oo> in bootucát [u’ʃɑt] ‘mustard’

y

/ɪ/

as '' in bitylk [ɪlk] ‘louse, nit’

o

/o/

as <oa> in boattcok [ʧok] ‘to go’

e

/ɛ/

as in betéjva [‘ɛʒ.vɑ] ‘mouse’

ǫ

/ɔ/

as <ou> in boughtǫ́bri [‘ɔ.bɾi] ‘niece’

a

/ɑ/

as in fatheradína [ɑ’di.nɑ] ‘sister’

Syllabic Liquids

ʌ

/ɫ̩/

as <le> in middleʌ́nax [‘ɫ̩.nɑx] ‘shopping’

ʀ

/ɹ̩/

as <er> in betterwʀn [wɹ̩n] ‘(maternal) grandparent’

<ʌ> and <ʀ> are considered vowels in Maltcégj and never occur non-syllabically. However, they are not subject to the same diacritic rules for other non-diphthongs as other vowels (though they are still marked when stressed).

Diphthongs

Front

Back

ai

/ɑi̯/

as in highskwai [skwɑi̯] ‘lemon’

au

/au̯/

as in German Hausmlau [mlau̯] ‘what’

ei

/ei̯/

as in weigheict [ei̯ʃt] ‘game’

eu

/ɛu̯/

as <ew> in Welsh ewroðeup [ðɛu̯p] ‘foot’

oi

/ɔi̯/

as in oilmoin [mɔi̯n] ‘warmth’

Pronouns

Person

Notes

Reflexive

Reciprocal

1sg

jǫg

I

jagj

--

2sg

mélem

you

madj

--

2sg

mélminei

you

formal

madj

--

3sg.f.

pel

she

feminine

peibj

--

3sg.m

pul

he

masculine

peibj

--

3sg.n

paj

it

inanimate

peibj

--

3sg

pʌ

“they”

general or non-specific

peibj

--

1pl

jǫ́lmin

we

inclusive

jeltc

játci

1pl

jalk

we

general or exclusive

jeltc

játci

2pl

mélem

you

madj

mládji

2pl

mélminei

you

formal

madj

mládji

3pl

parþ

they

general

pyldj

píkci

Some of the most basic elements of language, pronouns will take the place of the subject in most sentences. Maltcégj pronoun structure does not differentiate much from that of English with the exception of a formal and informal second person, and the formal is very infrequently used, but there are “optional” pronouns which may offer more clarity. Just remember to use mélminei when you’re speaking to someone with whom you would use a title in English (e.g. faculty members, judges, business associates, &c). Otherwise, the pronouns above will get you through most situations.

Person

Notes

Reflexive

Reciprocal

2pl

akmélem

you (all)

madj

mládji

2pl

akmélminei

you (all)

formal

madj

mládji

3pl

akpél

they

feminine (=parþ)

pyldj

píkci

3pl

akpúl

they

masculine (=parþ)

pyldj

píkci

3pl

akpáj

they

inanimate (=parþ)

pyldj

píkci

3pl

akpʌ́

they

(=parþ, incorrect)

pyldj

píkci

If you want to be more specific, however, you can use the plural particle ak with the singular pronouns (with the exception of jǫg) to make them plural. You can optionally add ak to mélem and mélminei to further explain that you are referring to more than one person. You can also use ak with the third person pronouns if you explicitly want to annotate gender. Note, however, that saying akpʌ́ is technically incorrect: This should more accurately be parþ, but akpʌ́ is common in speech, just as saying they in English is common to refer to a singular person whose gender is unknown or unclear (as in “Someone left their notebook here.”)

In case you are unfamiliar with the idea of inclusive and exclusive we, only use jǫ́lmin when the person you are addressing is part of the “we” in question, i.e. if you can replace it with “you and I”, or “you and the rest of us”; otherwise, always use jalk. (jalk can be used in an inclusive or exclusive sense if none is specified; jǫ́lmin can only be inclusive.)

In fact, pronouns in Maltcégj are even a little simpler than those in English, because there are no cases to decline. Possessives (my, your, his, our, &c.) are formed by adding the preposition u- to the word being possessed, and the accusative case (me, him, her, them, &c.) by adding the postposition -a to the pronoun.

The reflexive pronouns are used when the verb of the sentence is being done to the subject of the sentence by the subject of the sentence; that is to say, when we would use the word “-self” in English (e.g. myself, yourself, yourselves, themselves, &c.)

The reciprocal pronouns are similar to the reflexive (and in many languages they are identical), but they apply only to plural subjects when the action of the verb is being done to another member of the same plural group. (In English this is generally translated as “each other.”) Compare, for example:

blaiðák parþ pyldj
‘they are talking to themselves’

blaidák parþ píkci
‘they are talking to each other’

Numbers

0

zo

zero

1

am

one

2

dai

two

3

tran

three

4

jamp

four

5

frem

five

6

cei

six

7

dan

seven

8

relk

eight

9

nein

nine

10

seþ

ten

20

daiséþ

twenty

30

transéþ

thirty

40

jampséþ

forty

50

fremséþ

fifty

60

ceiséþ

sixty

70

danséþ

seventy

80

relkséþ

eighty

90

neinséþ

ninety

100

sam

hundred

100

sam

hundred

1,000

seþ sam

thousand (=ten hundreds)

10,000

cep

ten thousand

100,000

seþ cep

hundred thousand (=ten ten-thousands)

1,000,000

sam cep

million (=hundred ten-thousands)

10,000,000

seþ sam cep

ten million (=ten hundred ten-thousands)

100,000,000

jak

hundred million

1,000,000,000

seþ jak

milliard/billion (=ten hundred-millions)

10,000,000,000

sam jak

ten milliard/billion (=hundred hundred-millions)

100,000,000,000

seþ sam jak

hundred milliard/billion (=ten hundred hundred-millions)

1,000,000,000,000

cep jak

billion/trillion (=ten thousand hundred-millions)

10,000,000,000,000

seþ cep jak

ten billion/trillion (=ten ten-thousand hundred-millions)

100,000,000,000,000

sam cep jak

hundred billion/trillion (=hundred ten-thousand hundred-millions)

1,000,000,000,000,000

seþ sam cep jak

billiard/quadrillion (=ten hundred ten-thousand hundred-millions)

10,000,000,000,000,000

gwil

ten billiard/quadrillion

Maltcégj numbers are base-10 (decimal), but they increase incrementally instead of in the more regular groups of three or six. Therefore, numbers through 999 are enumerated just as they are in English, but the number 1,000 is considered “ten hundred,” or seþ sam. Thereafter, 10,000 is cep, 100,000 seþ cep ‘ten ten-thousands’, 1,000,000 is sam cep ‘one hundred ten-thousands’, 10,000,000 is seþ sam cep ‘ten hundred ten-thousands’, and 100,000,000 is jak. The next increment after jak is gwil, which has a value of ten quadrillion (or ten billiard if you’re from some parts of Europe), followed by ǧan, which is a number large enough that you shouldn’t ever need it unless you’re counting individual atoms, but it’s something like one hundred nonillion (10³²).

Compound numbers are spoken as they are written in English, from left to right, (optionally) inserting indicators for tens, hundreds, thousands, &c., so “twenty-nine” is daiséþ nein ‘two tens nine’, while 3,587 is transéþ fremsám relkséþ dan ‘three tens five hundreds eight tens seven, or thirty-five hundred eighty-seven’. Easier still, and less subject to misinterpretation, the numbers can simply be read from right to left, as in tran frem relk dan ‘three five eight seven’. These are all correct, just as it’s correct in English to say “three thousand five hundred eighty-seven,” “thirty-five hundred and eighty-seven,” “thirty-five eighty-seven,” or even (somewhat less correctly) “three five eight seven.”

The number “zero” should always be read as zo, not bleg, though the two words are interchangeable in some circumstances. When the last digit is zero, however, it should be read as “seþ,” or “sam“ if two zeros… It may sound a little strange, but we do the same thing in English. For example, 780 should be read dan relk seþ ‘seven eighty’; 7,800, dan relk sam ‘seventy-eight hundred’; 78,000, dan relk seþ sam, ‘seventy-eight thousand, &c.

With the exception of the number ‘one’, the particle gji indicates ordinality, much like the suffix -th for numbers 4 – 10 in English. Any number ending in ‘one’ takes the ordinal adám, just as we say first and second in English rather than **oneth or **twoth.

Maltcégj uses the particle ak before a noun to indicate that it is plural, but this particle is not used when a number is present. For example, ‘book’ is klag, ‘books’ is aklág, but ‘two books’ is klag dai (no ak). (See Maltcégj#Nouns for more on the use of the plural.)

If using decimals in numbers, the word dat is used to mean ‘point’ or ‘dot’, though it literally means ‘seed’ or ‘egg’.

Articles & Determiners

Maltcégj has no definite article, and the indefinite article am is only used to specifically represent the number ‘one’. Its use of articles in this respect is very similar to Latin or Russian; definiteness is only expressed using the terms úli ‘this’, úla ‘that’, and úlot, ‘that (other) yonder’ (or, respectively, the proximal, medial, and distal deixes). There are additional deixes which are used primarily for discussing time (see Pro-Forms).

Correlatives and Pro-Forms

Most of the pro-forms in Maltcégj stem from combinations of common words, such as ‘this’ + ‘time’, meaning ‘now’, or ‘that’ + ‘thing’ meaning ‘that’. However, it is important to note some historical changes to the language to fully understand how the current forms came to be as they are.

Maltcégj is a head-initial language, like modern Japanese, but the language family from which it is descended, Baraqesh, was head-final, like most modern Indo-European languages. That is to say that forms like ‘who’ (‘which person’) were originally in the order in which we use them in English today, but eventually reversed in the grammar (‘person which’). However, before this reversal occurred, many forms were contracted, particularly those with mlau ‘what’, so there is a duality of some seemingly unrelated forms. For example, ‘when’ (‘what’ + ‘time’) can be both ðláimlau (literally ‘time-what’) and mlai, a contraction of an earlier *mlauðlai.

The deixes ja, la, and þa always precede the noun they modify, even when they are used independently. (For more information on these, see Measurement of Time.)

Still other forms have no relation to the base form, but are listed here for convenience.

The most common correlatives can be found below.

Interrogative

Relative

Negative

Base forms:

mlau (‘what’)

kalk (‘that, which’)

bleg (‘no’)

lað (‘person’)

lað mlau, mlað (‘who’)

klað, kalk (‘who’)

lað bleg, blað (‘no one’)

lak (‘agent’)

lak mlau, mlak (‘what’)

klak, kalk (‘that’)

lak bleg, blak (‘nothing’)

ðrax (‘thing’)

ðrax mlau, mlax (‘what’)

klax, kalk (‘which’)

ðrax bleg, blax (‘nothing’)

arán (‘place’)

arán mlau, mlarán (‘where’)

klarán (‘where’)

arán bleg, bláran (‘nowhere’)

ðlai (‘time’)

ðlai mlau, mlai (‘when’)

klai (‘when’)

ðlai bleg, blai2 (‘never’)

kþið (‘manner’)

kþið mlau, mlið (‘how’)

klið (‘how’)

kþið bleg, blið (‘no way’)

mára (‘quantity’)

mára mlau, mlára (‘how much/many’)

klára (‘how much/many’)

mára bleg, blára (‘none’)

hímiem1 (‘reason’)

mlímiem (‘why’)

klímiem (‘why’)

blímiem (‘for no reason’)

Proximal

Medial

Distal

Base forms:

jála, úli (‘this’)

ðóra, úla (‘that’)

þa, ulót (‘yonder’)

lað (‘person’)

lað úli, jlað (‘this person’)

lað úla, ðrað (‘that person’)

lað ulót, þlað (‘the other person’)

lak (‘agent’)

lak úli, jlak (‘this thing’)

lak úla, ðrak (‘that thing’)

lak ulót, þlak (‘the other thing’)

ðrax (‘thing’)

ðrax úli, jlax (‘this’)

ðrax úla, ðrax (‘that’)

ðrax ulót, þlax (‘that (other)’)

arán (‘place’)

jarán, jlarán3 (‘here’)

larán, ðrarán (‘there’)

þarán (‘up there, ahead’), þrarán (‘elsewhere’)

ðlai (‘time’)

jaðlai, jlai, nak (‘now’)

laðlai, ðraðlai, nos (‘then’)

þaðlai (‘in the future’), þraðlái (‘some other time’)

kþið (‘manner’)

kþið úli, jlið (‘like this’)

kþið úla, ðrið (‘like that’)

þkíð (‘some other way’)

mára (‘quantity’)

mára úli, márað (‘this much’)

mára úla, márað (‘that much’)

mára ulót (‘that other amount’)

hímiem1 (‘reason’)

ðrímiem (‘because’)

þrímiem (‘for that reason’)

1 The word hímiem (‘reason’) is no longer used, but lives on in the pro-form contractions, where it is used exclusively over its nominal replacement, frulúþ.

2 While blai may still be found in some texts, it is not generally used due to its homophonous relationship with the progressive particle (see Verbs).

3jláran is gradually becoming obsolete and has been broadly replaced by járan.

Nouns

Maltcégj nouns are relatively straight-forward. They do not inflect for case or number. Nouns are always the first word in a noun phrase (that is, they precede adjectives and adpositions), though genitive constructions may be constructed in ways that may seem contrary to this assertion (more on the genitive under Adpositions).

Nouns with two syllables which may double as verbs tend to have initial stress while the verb form has final stress, but this tendency is by no means a rule.

Indicating Plurality

While there is no specific plural form of nouns, there is a plural particle, ak-, which can be optionally prefixed to the noun stem to specify plurality. ak- is never used when a number is present or any other indicator that would already imply a plural.

Adpositions

Adpositions in Maltcégj are generally suffixed to the nouns they modify. They undergo very little inflection (so it is not considered a case system per se), but there is some variation in some nouns which end in vowels, as shown below. (Nouns can only end in the vowels <i>, <a>, <ǫ>, <o>, and <u>. Nouns cannot end in <e> or <y>. Nouns ending in <ʌ> take regular consonant endings except before -ʌ and -ʌk, where the final <ʌ> of the noun becomes <l>. Nouns ending in <ʀ> take regular consonant endings except before -ʀ, which becomes -hʀ. Most changes, however, simply involve adding an epenthetic <h> before the prefix or adding a diæresis or dot to the vowel of the adposition.

C#-

[i]#-

[a,ǫ]#-

[o,u]#-

Example

Pronoun Type

Eng.

Ger.

Lat.

Esp.

Notes

-

-i-

-a-

-o-

ek klag gnir.<brThe book is green.’

Nominative

-

(Nom.)

(Nom.)

-

Subject.

a

-iȧ

-aha

-oȧ

dydkulóm jǫg klága.‘I saw the book.’

Accusative

-

(Acc.)

(Acc.)

-n

Direct object.

að

-iȧð

-ahað

-oȧð

‘to the book’

Dative

to

zu (+ Dat.)

ad

al

Indirect object.

ai

-iȧi

-ahai

-oȧi

‘through (the middle of) the book’

Perlative

through

durch (+ Acc.)

per

aj

-iȧj

-ahaj

-oȧj

‘during/throughout the book’

Temporal Durative

during

während (+ Gen.)

ala

-iȧla

-ahala

-oȧla

‘between the books’

Intrative

between, among

zwischen, unter (+ Dat.)

inter

Automatically implies plural.

alm

-iȧlm

-ahalm

-oȧlm

‘without the book’

Abesso-caritive

without

ohne (+ Acc.)

sine

alx

-iȧlx

-ahalx

-oȧlx

‘on (the side of) the book’

Adessive

on

an (+ Dat.)

ap

-iȧp

-ahap

-oȧp

‘on (top of) the book’

Superessive

on

auf (+ Dat.)

arak

-iȧrak

-aharak

-oȧrak

‘(leaning) against the book’

Revertive

against

gegen (+ Acc.)

versus

av

-iȧv

-ahav

-oȧv

‘after the book’

Postessive

following

folgend, zunächst

post

eð

-iëð

-aheð

-oëð

‘around the book’

Circumessive

around

um (+ Acc.)

circum

eki

-iëki

-aheki

-oëki

‘up to/until the book’

Allato-terminative

until

bis (+ Acc.)

eloï

-iëloï

-aheloï

-oëloï

‘about/concerning the book’

about

über (+ Dat.)

em

-iëm

-ahem

-oëm

‘over/above the book’

over

über (+ Dat.)

supra

ei

-iëi

-ahei

-oëi

‘in the book’

Inessive

in

in (+ Dat.)

in(tra)

fra

-ifra

-afra

-ofra

‘with books’ (as in ‘strewn’)

with

mit (+ Dat.)

i

-ihi

-ahi

-oï

‘for the book’

Benefactive

for

für (+ Acc.)

ið

-ihið

-ahið

-oïð

‘before/prior to the book’

Temporal

before

bevor (+ Dat.)

ante

ij

-ihij

-ahij

-oïj

‘after the books’

Temporal

after, according to

nach (+ Dat.)

secundum

post

ili

-ihili

-ahili

-oïli

‘next to/beside/near the book’

Apudessive

next to

neben (+ Dat.)

prope

im

-ihim

-ahim

-oïm

‘along(side) the books’

Vialis

along

(Dat.+) entlang

is

-ihis

-ahis

-oïs

‘instead of the book’

Excambiative

instead of

statt (+ Gen.)

it

-ihit

-ahit

-oït

‘behind the book’

behind

hinter (+ Dat.)

pone, post

iþ

-ihiþ

-ahiþ

-oïþ

‘under the book’

Subessive

under

unter (+ Dat.)

subter

lef

-ilef

-alef

-olef

‘like the books’

Comparative

like

wie (+ Nom.)

ʌ

-il

-al

-ol

‘by the book’

Agentive

by

von (+ Dat.)

ʌk

-ilk

-alk

-olk

‘by means of the book’

Instrumental

with

mit (+ Dat.)

cum

o

-iȯ

-aho

-ohȯ

‘from the book’

Delative

from

von (+ Dat.)

oc

-iȯc

-ahoc

-ohȯc

‘at the time of the book’

Temporal

at the time of

an (+ Acc.)

ok

-iȯk

-ahok

-ohȯk

‘with the book’

Commitative

with

mit (+ Dat.)

simul

ol

-iȯl

-ahol

-ohȯl

‘except for the book’

Exclusive

except for

außer (+ Dat.)

om

-iȯm

-ahom

-ohȯm

‘in front of the book’

in front of

vor (+ Dat.)

prae

ǫg

-iǫ̇g

-ahǫg

-ohǫ̇g

‘anti-book’

Contrative

against, anti

wider (+ Acc.), -feindlich

contra

ʀ

-ihʀ

-ahʀ

-ohʀ

‘pro-book’

for, pro

pro- (+ Acc.), -freundlich

pro

ul

-iu̇l

-ahul

-ou̇l

‘(made) of books’

Exessive

made from

aus (+ Dat.)

ex

ut

-iu̇t

-ahut

-ou̇t

‘out of the book’

Elative

out of

aus (+ Dat.)

ex

vul

-ivul

-avul

-ovul

‘because of the book’

Causal

because of

wegen (+ Gen.)

propter

u

uï-

uȧ-

uȯ-

‘-’s book, the book belonging to’

Possessed

‘s, of

(Gen.), von

(Gen.)

Adjectives

Adjectives in Maltcégj generally follow the noun they modify.

wíðoc

calíc

sky

blue

‘blue sky’

However, when an adjective is used as a copula, it may stand on its own as a predicate to ek (‘to be’), or be treated as a verb in its own right.

ek

gnída

gnir

(or)

gnir

gnída

is

grass

green

is-green

grass

‘The grass is green.’

Comparison, Superference, and Equation

In English there are two distinct ways to create the comparative and superlative when talking about adjectives: By adding the words “more” and “most” to adjectives of Latin derivation, and by adding the suffixes “-er” and “-est” to those of Germanic origin. (Granted, this is a little bit simplified, but that’s the general idea.) Maltcégj only has one word for each of these types of comparative and superlative, but there are a few other ways that we cheat our way around in English. I also include here the equative phrase “as … as” and the negative comparative and superlative “less” and “least.”

narán

most, -est

nan

more, -er

amán

as…as, as much, equally

pan

less

palán

least

All of these words precede the adjectives they modify, unless the adjective is used explicitly as a verb, and therefore the subject of the sentence. It is not uncommon or incorrect in this case to use ek as the verb and to treat the adjective as the object. When comparing the qualities of a specific noun, the postposition að is used as we would use “than” in English (or “as” when used with amán).

When any of these are used in combination with an adjective that begins with /b/ or /p/, the final /n/ changes to /m/, e.g. pan+bjólet=pambjólet ‘worse’. If the adjective begins with /m/, /n/ is elided entirely, e.g. nan+mot=namót ‘emptier’. (See Phonology.)

Verbs

As Maltcégj is a “VSO” language, most sentences begin with a verb. Verbs can only be preceded by conjunctions and particles (most of which are prefixed to the verb).

There is no inflection on verbs; all tenses, moods, aspects, voices, and modalities are conveyed by particles, which operate much like they do in Mandarin Chinese. (The equivalent Mandarin particles are included in the table below for further clarity.)

Particle

TAMV

E.g.

vrei

吧

Imperative

vreitcók! Go!

men

吧,請

Jussive

mentcók. Please go.

cʌþ

嗎

Interrogative

cʌþ tcok mélem?1 Are you going?

bleg

不,沒

Negative

blegtcók mélem. You’re not going.

lǫ

-

Subjunctive

lǫtcég kleg lǫtcók mélem. It is important that you go.

dyd

了

Past

dydtcók mélem. You went.

nag

要

Future

nagtcók mélem. You will go.

dla

就,剛

Immediacy

(always combined with other particles – see below)

kwarþ

過

Perfect

kwarþtcók mélem. You have gone.

blai

正在

Progressive

blaitcók mélem. You are (in the process of) going.

kan

還

Continuative

kantcók mélem. You are still going.

gak

-

Habitual

gaktcók mélem. You (often/regularly) go.

kla

-

Terminative

klatcók mélem. You have stopped going.

guc

-

Inceptive

guctcók mélem. You have started to go.

rak

被

Passive

rakulóm mélem. You are seen.

1 Unlike other particles, cʌþ does not combine with the verb; it stands on its own as an individual word.

The particles can be used in many combinations to create new tenses, moods, and aspects, but they must always be used in the very specific order above. Some of these combinations have undergone epenthesis, creating seemingly unique particles. Some examples:

Particle

TAMV

E.g.

nakwarþ (nag + kwarth)

Future Perfect

nakwarþtcók mélem. You will have gone.

nagblai

Future progressive

nagblaitcók mélem. You will be going.

naglǫ

Future subjunctive

lǫtcég kleg naglǫtcók mélem. It is important that you would go.

dydnag

Conditional

dydnagtcók mélem. You would go.

dygwarþ (dyd + kwarth)

Pluperfect

dygwarþtcók mélem. You had gone.

dydblai

Imperfect

dydblaitcók mélem. You were going.

dydlǫ

Past subjunctive

lǫtcég kleg dydlǫtcók mélem. It was important that you went.

dydnakwarþ

Conditional perfect

dydnakwarþtcók mélem. You would have gone.

dydla (dyd + dla)

Immediate past

dydlatcók mélem. You just went.

nagdla

Immediate future

nagdlatcók mélem. You are about to go.

dydnagdla

Immediate future II

dydnagdlatcók mélem. You were about to go.

cleglǫ2

Cohortative

cleglǫtcók mélem. You’d better go.

2cléglǫ is a contraction of lǫtcég kleg lǫ ‘it is important that’.

There are more, but one step at a time. You can plug many of these together, but be certain to retain the strict order:

Adverbs

Adverbs in Maltcégj normally immediately follow the finite verb. (The exception are adverbial phrases and temporal adverbs, which immediately follow the subject.)

In order to create adverbs from adjectives, the particle lef- is prefixed (much as one would add –ly in English or –ment(e) in the Romance languages).

Measurement of Time

As discussed briefly in the section on Correlatives and Pro-Forms, time words can be modified with three particles: la- (‘past’), ja- (‘present’), or þa- (‘future’). When combined with a noun that begins with a vowel, the a- of each prefix is dropped.

ja- is a contraction of the older (now obsolete) proximal deixis jála, which is also contracted to jla- in some of the other Correlatives (see). Similarly, þa- is a contraction of the distal deixis þúla, which also contracts to þla- or þra-. (The older medial deixis was ðóra, which is unrelated to la-, but still used as contracted ðra- in other Correlatives.)

Some of the most common constructions are listed below:

ðlai ‘time’

laðlai ‘then, back then’

jaðlai ‘now’

þaðlai ‘in the future’

nad ‘day’

lanad ‘yesterday’

janad ‘today’

þanad ‘tomorrow’

temét ‘morning’

latemét ‘yesterday morning’

jatemét ‘this morning’

þatemét ‘tomorrow morning’

bará ‘afternoon’

labará ‘yesterday afternoon’

jabará ‘this afternoon’

þabará ‘tomorrow afternoon’

ápten ‘evening’

lápten ‘yesterday evening’

jápten ‘this evening’

þápten ‘tomorrow evening’

beríc ‘night’

laberíc ‘last night’

jaberíc ‘tonight’

þaberíc ‘tomorrow night’

danjád ‘week’

ladanjád ‘last week’

jadanjád ‘this week’

þadanjád ‘next week’

rúma ‘month’

larúma ‘last month’

jarúma ‘this month’

þarúma ‘next month’

avíl ‘year’

lavíl ‘last year’

javíl ‘this year’

þavíl ‘next year’

These prefixes can also be used in with the word ðlai (above) to form adjectives meaning ‘past’, ‘present’, and ‘future’, respectively, as well as arán ‘place’, (which has some specific connotations depending on how it’s used).

Sentence Structure

The word order in Maltcégj is very strict. Because all aspects of the language are indicated by particles, there is no need to change the word order. Sentences are formed using a VSO structure; that is, verb – subject – object. This is the basis of every sentence, but there can be more to a sentence than just these components. Other components of a sentence are treated just as rigidly. Every clause will flow in the same order, even if it does not contain all of these elements:

I [subject] nicely [adverb, i.e. how the action is taking place] gave [verb, past tense] the book [direct object, i.e. what is being given] to the man [indirect object] at his house [spatial clause, i.e. where the action is taking place] this morning [temporal clause, i.e. when the action is taking place].

If you rearrange these into the prescribed word order above, you get:

I nicely gave the book to the man at his house this morning.

gave

nicely

I

the book

this morning

at his house

to the man

dyd-gélk

lef-breuð

jǫg

klág-a

ja-temét

pul u-márga-h-íli

þád-að

PST-give

ADV-nice

1sg

book-ACC

PROX-morning

he POSS-house-[ligature]-APUD

man-DAT

dydgélk lefbreuð jǫg jatemét pul umárgahíli þádað klága

You need never deviate from this word order. To make an indicative statement into a question (whereby in English we would reverse the subject and the verb), simply add the particle cʌþ before the verb.

Aside from these sentence elements, there are a few other word order concerns to note:

salgebúra ‘shock or revulsion over something stupid and offensive’ – a malamanteau of Hebrew גבורה and S.L.G.B.R. which stands for something else stupid and offensive which I’ll keep to myself.

salméilo wʌf akɮát ‘bon appétit’, which is an eggcorn for salméilol fak ɮat, ‘may the apple be tempting to the tooth’ but has now become standardized. It literally means ‘bone apple teeth’, itself an English eggcorn for bon appétit.

tcápa ‘ring, circle’ – Goa’uld chappa-ai. (Originally that meaning was further extended by the postposition ai, wherein tcápaai meant ‘through the ring,’ but this was later broken by a phonological rule which rendered it tcápahai.

tcélo ‘lavender, light purple’ - from cello, which is not quite a viola, like how violet also isn't.

Most kinship terms are names for members of my direct family or words that describe them. Just a few examples are:

adína ‘sister’ - This is the name of my sister, Adina J.

katír ‘parternal grandparents’ - The plural form, akatír is from my home town’s old High School basketball team, the Halcotteers, which later came to be used locally to refer to any old folks from that town (i.e. from the era when we still had a High School). (The High School was actually in Fleischmanns, not Halcott, but that’s another story.)